Crime Watch

Baltimore police found yesterday a 2-year-old boy and the grandmother accused of taking him from Johns Hopkins Hospital early Saturday, a police spokesman said.

An anonymous tip led police officers to the 1800 block of Guilford Ave. last night, where Antonio Brown was found, said the spokesman, Agent Donny Moses.

He was with his grandmother, Belinda Brown-Francis, 34, her husband and her 13-year-old son, Moses said.

Brown-Francis was arrested and has been charged with abduction, kidnapping and reckless endangerment, the spokesman said.

Although the toddler appeared healthy, he and the 13-year-old were taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital for medical evaluation, Moses said.

They will both remain in the hospital until the Department of Child Protective Services determines what will happen to them, Moses said. The 13-year-old stated that as recently as Sunday, they spent the night in a vacant house in the Greenmount area, Moses said.

Hopkins spokesman Gary Stephens said police brought the toddler in for evaluation but the boy hadn't been admitted as a patient when he was taken. It was unclear why the boy was brought to the hospital.

Liz F. Kay

Victim of shooting identified

Police have identified the man who was fatally shot Sunday on the steps of an East Baltimore rowhouse, less than a block from where people had gathered for a vigil to mourn a teenager who was killed last year.

The victim was identified yesterday as Carlos Eugene Smithson, 22, who was killed about 5:30 p.m. in the 2600 block of Grogan Ave. and apparently fell inside. Smithson lived in the 400 block of N. Robinson St., police said.

Police released few details of the homicide investigation. A relative who answered the phone at Smithson's house declined to speak with a reporter.

The shooting - in the Berea neighborhood - rattled the participants of a nearby vigil taking place at North Luzerne Avenue and East Hoffman Street.

Also yesterday, police said a 42-year-old man was fatally shot while driving a vehicle in the 700 block of Baker St. about 3:20 p.m.

The vehicle crashed near North Carey and Baker streets. The victim was pronounced dead at about 5 p.m., said police spokesman Agent Donny Moses. He was the city's 257th homicide victim this year.